Death is Not the End
by diamondhana
Summary: Set during Season 8, where they have to visit a planet to make an alliance. The aliens there really value life, and they immediately spot that Lance has died before. Cue panicking teammates, concerned boyfriend, and guilty Allura as Lance tries to explain why it's not that big of a deal.


Lance lay on his bed, Keith sleeping next to him. It had been a rough week, as Team Voltron and the Atlas crew had tried to reign in the remains of the Galra empire. Lance had taken a blaster shot to his shoulder, and Keith had immediately freaked out.

At the thought of his boyfriend, a giddy smile immediately graced his face. They had begun dating a few weeks ago, and both of them had agreed to keep it secret until they felt comfortable enough to reveal it to the team. It had been sort of fun, sneaking around behind their team member's backs. Lance liked the danger aspect to it, but he was ready to tell everybody, if Keith was too.

Just as his eyelids were drooping, alarms began blaring around the Atlas.

"Paladins, we have received a distress signal from the planet directly below us. Please get to your lions immediately!"

Keith shot up like a rocket out of bed, pulling on his armor in record time. Ever since they had started sharing a bed, Keith had decided it was easier to leave his armor in Lance's room, in case of an emergency.

Lance followed suit, and was about to leave the room, but Keith's arm stopped him.

"Lance, please be careful out there. Your shoulder is still healing from the blast it took."

Lance smirked back. "Keith, remember who you're talkin' to. I'm Sharpshooter Extraordinaire, nothing can keep me down."

Keith let out an exasperated sigh, a fond smile playing at his lips. "Just don't do anything stupid for once."

"Hey!"

Keith just laughed and ran down the hallway, towards the lions. Lance grumbled a bit, but hopped into Red. They immediately joined the battle, shooting out hot beams of red light left and right. Soon, the Galra retreated, with the MFE pilots and the Atlas chasing off any stragglers.

They landed their lions, and joined the aliens down below. The leader stepped up, with a grateful smile on his/her(they didn't have any defined genders) face.

"Thank you so much Voltron! You have not only saved our planet, but you did it without any casualties."

_That's right, this planet held a high value on any life, whether it be enemy or friend._

Lance stepped up with a wide grin. "No problemo, all in a day's work for this sharpshooter."

Pidge and Hunk groaned at his antics, while Allura and Keith just rolled their eyes.

The leader eyed Lance up and down, a confused and sorrowful expression stealing over their face. "Paladin Lance, I am so sorry for your suffering."

Lance just blinked. "Suffering? But I'm fine!"

"But, you are a martyr!" They exclaimed. "I can see your aura. You have died protecting the universe, and the ones you love."

"What are you talking about!" Keith stepped forward and shielded Lance with his body. "Lance is perfectly fine, and not dead! Right, Lance?" Keith asked, glancing behind him.

Lance lowered his eyes guiltily.

_Quiznack! They were never supposed to know. I made sure that Allura never told anybody._

When Lance didn't say anything, Hunk stepped up.

"Of course Lance never died. I would definitely know if my best buddy had died out in space."

"O-Oh," The leader stammered. "I never meant to offend you Paladin Lance, I simply assumed by the darkness in your aura, that you had died before."

Lance closed his eyes and took a deep breath. There was no hiding it now. He glanced over at Allura, who was sporting a guilty look. He smiled at her, letting her know that it wasn't her fault. Allura gave him a small smile back, but she still looked haunted.

"There was no offense. You are correct. I died for a short time protecting one of my teammates from a fatal blast."

"WHAT!" Keith screamed in his ear. "Y-You died and never thought to tell me!"

Lance winced, rubbing his ear. "Geez Mullet, don't scream so loud. And I didn't tell anybody because it wasn't a big deal. I was only gone for a few minutes before Allura brought me back." Lance immediately stopped talking, realizing his mistake.

Pidge, Hunk, and Keith immediately whipped around to stare at Allura.

"My best friend died and you didn't tell me?!" Hunk had tears in his eyes.

Keith got a dangerous glint in his eyes. "My _boyfriend_ died, and you didn't think to inform me?" As soon as those words left his mouth, Lance froze.

"Boyfriend?" Pidge had a evil glint in her eyes. She whipped around to look at Hunk. "You owe me 50 GAC!"

"Keith!" Lance threw his hands in the air.

"What?" Keith turned back to him.

"I thought we agreed to keep it a secret!"

"That was before I learned that you sacrificed yourself, died, and made the executive decision to inform nobody!" He was breathing heavily after his rant, a distraught look on his face.

Any notion of keeping their relationship a secret went out the window, and Lance wrapped his arms around Keith.

"I'm sorry Keith. I'm sorry everybody. I- it was just that there was a war going on, and I didn't want to cause anymore stress. Plus, you were with the Blades, and I didn't want anything to get in the way of you finding your family. And I figured it wasn't that big of a deal-" The rest of Lance's words were cut off, as everybody hugged him.

"You are important Lance." Keith told him fiercely. "You're so passionate and smart, not to mention you are my Sharpshooter. Never, for one second, believe that you aren't worth it. Because finding my mom means nothing if you aren't there to meet her."

Lance looked at him in shock, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "Really?"

"Lance," Allura interjected. "I am so sorry that I didn't tell anyone. I was being selfish, and was only thinking about the war. Never once did I think about the consequences you would feel. I want you to know that you are an important member of Team Voltron, and an amazing friend."

Lance smiled at her. "You are forgiven Allura."

Hunk bawled, his arms constricting around Lance even tighter. "I'm the worst friend ever. I'm so sorry Lance. I didn't even notice that you were hurting, I was so busy in my own world."

"Me too," Pidge said, looking uncomfortable. "Emotions don't really come to me that well. I prefer to work with machines. But Lance, you're like an older, annoying, brother to me. And I'm sorry if I made you feel dumb or unimportant. Without you, I would have never been able to find my family. So thank you Lance."

By the end of their speeches, Lance was full our ugly crying, hiding his face in Keith's neck. "Th-Thank you guys so much. I love all of you!"

Keith gazed down at him with adoring eyes. "We love you too, Lance. But don't think I'm not gonna tell Shiro. He'll mother hen you so much, I'm surprised if he will even let you out of his sight!"

Nooo," Lance wailed dramatically. "Not Space Dad!"

As they all laughed, Lance looked around. He was surrounded by his loving space family, who were certain that they would continue to remind Lance of just how important and vital he was. For Lance wasn't just vital for forming Voltron, he was what kept them sane.


End file.
